Magic Waves
by Vanity-Sky
Summary: Izuku & Mel are cousins who have always been together since they could remember but w/Mel's father getting a promotion, she's moving away soon. One last summer isn't nearly enough time for them to complete their wish list. That is until they discover a mermaid & help her gain Katsuki's attention. Mr. Dreamboat himself – surfer, lifeguard, grill master supreme & oh, Izuku's frenemy.
1. What The Storm Brings

AN: The Kacchako community over on Twitter is seriously not helping with the FEELS. I've never participated in MerMay before and thought it'd be fun to (before the month is over) with my own take on the mermaid fun!

So this was inspired by one of my all-time favorite mermaid movies growing up – Aquamarine. And of course, from my own travels, having gotten the chance to experience one of the bioluminescent bays over in Puerto Rico. So… uhh… yeah! I don't know how long this story will be – as I never do with most of my stories – but it'll be a fun journey no less!

Note: I haven't done this in years since I feel like no one really cares? But I thought I'd include/create a summer/beach playlist with each chapter having one song/artist to check out!

Today's song: Magic Ways by Tatsuro Yamashita.

Summary: Izuku and Mel are cousins who have always been together since they could remember but with Mel's father getting a promotion, she's moving away soon. One last summer isn't nearly enough time for them to complete their wish list. That is until they discover a mermaid and help her gain Katsuki's attention. Mr. Dreamboat himself – surfer, lifeguard, grill master supreme and oh, Izuku's frenemy. Kacchako. Slight Tododeku/Kirimina.

Happy reading~ :D

Magic Waves

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

What The Storm Brings

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

For as long as he could remember, they've always been together. From watching the ocean's waves gently dispersing right as they crashed into the breakwater.

To bouncing up and down as they got to experience a lighthouse for the very first time.

To sneaking off after their bedtimes to run off towards the tide pools to explore them.

To scaring off the squawking seagulls and helping baby sea turtles make a safe journey towards the water.

Their starting days were as innocent and wondrous as the frosty reflection of kaleidoscope patterns shining through smooth sea glass.

It's in those unforgettable sunsets with its cool ocean mist that two children squish their toes into soft warm brown sand. Sitting side by side as fits of giggles take over their tiny bodies. Plucking sticky black watermelon seeds from their cheeks that they promise each other a promise of always.

"We'll always be together no matter what, Izu-chan!" his cousin, Melissa giggles as she laughs at Izuku placing watermelon seeds on top of his freckles to entertain her.

"Always and forever!" he tells her with a gleam in his eyes as he cheerfully smiles at her.

"I'll race you!" Melissa gets up, quickly finishing her slice of watermelon before running off towards the shallow water with its calm waves gently bringing in kelp seaweed onto the shore.

"Hey, no fair!" Izuku groans as he smushes the sticky piece of fruit entirely in his mouth as he runs towards her with stuffed chubby cheeks.

That had been when they were seven and nine.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

"Izu-chan, come on in! The water feels amazing!" a nineteen-year-old Melissa calls out, using up her first try of the summer day to get her cousin into the ocean's water. She was floating in the water with the help of a blue pool noodle.

"Maybe later!" a seventeen-year-old Izuku calls out from his spot by the tide pools. He was currently fishing for mussels, clams, and oysters with a green bucket.

She knew that 'maybe later' meant never. He usually made up creative excuses before she exhausted him with a straight up 'Mel, no' type of response. She supposes, she can't blame him. At least not today of all days. Marking the fifth anniversary of both their mothers accident.

Both teenagers never spoke about it, never brought it up, and never wanted to relive that horrific day. Still unsure if their mothers had survived the wreckage as the coast guard had only found the ship but a small part of them hoped and prayed that someday their lives would feel complete again.

Unlike her cousin, Melissa accepted the pain. She decided to move on and not blame the ocean for what had happened. She was going to become a marine biologist after all, she couldn't afford to live in fear. But Izuku… her sweet Izuku had taken it so hard that he grew to fear all bodies of waters that had no safety net. He'd only ever swim in the pool and even that was a stretch, especially when the tsunamis would bring in ocean water and sea creatures into the pool of their fathers shared little seaside café.

"We should head back soon. I'm almost done collecting enough for Uncle Dave's dinner surprise!" Izuku calls out from behind the second tide pool he's scavenged.

Melissa rolls her eyes knowing that her dad's 'dinner surprise' was short for 'we're having Italian tonight because cooking pasta in a simple lemon wine sauce tossed with shellfish is the fastest meal I can make.' That's how most of their dinners have been lately ever since David got the news that his research got approved for funding and would be sending him and Melissa off to the coral reefs of Australia for at least three whole years.

It was an amazing opportunity for Melissa and she was so proud and excited for her father but she couldn't leave Izuku. With everything that had happened, she couldn't leave without knowing he'd be fine on his own. Over the years they had created a wish list of all the things they wanted to do together and ever since they both lost their mothers – the list just grew from there. But the biggest thing she hoped to cross off her list was to get Izuku to overcome his fear of the ocean and to learn to love it again.

He used to love swimming with the dolphins and feeding the migrating sea lions.

Melissa swam back to shore guiding her pool noodle as she dropped it on the wet sand and silently thanked Izuku when he tossed her a towel.

"A big storm's coming" he said as he watched past her figure towards the rocking buoys in the distance. He had always been good at guessing these types of things, especially during summer typhoon season.

"You know what that means" she tells him as they could already hear howling coming from a group of teenagers in the distance.

"Yeeep. Kacchan's gonna be out there soon" he nods as they start making their way back to the other side of the beach.

As they walked back to the crowded part of the beach, they saw a tall blond-haired muscular male with a black inked bicep wrap tattoo of crashing ocean waves on his left arm. He was wearing black swimming trunks with a green waistband and an orange x-mark across the design. On his neck, he had a necklace made out of various sizes of jagged shark teeth. He was bent over, making sure the black velcro band of his orange surfboard was secure as he tugged on the leash to make sure it wouldn't snap off – getting ready to catch a big wave.

Next to him was a pair – a red-haired male wearing red swimming trunks with a scattered white hibiscus design, wearing a cowrie shell necklace and getting ready to follow the blond with his own purple surfboard. Next to him a young woman with wild pink hair, wearing a cheetah print bikini, and using a wooden table to wax her hot pink surfboard before following the ready duo.

"They sure got guts" Melissa comments as she and Izuku enter the side 'employee only' gated entrance leading straight into the kitchen of the café. "We're back!" they both call out in unison knowing they'd get nothing but silence in return. The café was closed on Sunday's.

Izuku places his filled bucket on the countertop, water sloshing to the floor with the motion. "Didn't your dad say he'd be here?" Izuku asks when a few seconds pass them and all they can hear is the electricity buzzing from the refrigerator.

"Knowing him… he's probably at home packing" she sighs with a slight annoyance. It was hard to be happy about moving away when she already had plans with Izuku and her dad just decided to drop the big news bomb on her not even a week ago. She was secretly unpacking finished boxes to slow down the process but knew that her dad would catch on pretty quickly to her tactics.

"Should we go check?" he suggests tilting his head towards the home part of their café. The place was split between work and home. But it hadn't always been like that. The café was a lifelong dream of their fathers but it didn't turn into a reality until five years ago. Melissa's dad David and Izuku's dad Toshinori thought they could help each other out both financially and emotionally if they all moved in together after the accident. It was then, that Izuku and Toshinori's home was expanded and converted into what it is now.

"Nah, knowing him, he's probably forgotten its his night to make dinner" she shrugs, somewhat relieved to change up the menu for once.

"Guess I'll just clean up these mollusks and save them for later" Izuku deeply sighs.

"Worry about that later 'cuz I am here to save dinner!" a loud booming voice echoes throughout the kitchen as they see a tall figure walk in, face being hidden behind several boxes of pizza and a plastic bag on top. "Izu, can you please get the bag on top? I don't want the ice cream to melt any further!"

"Our hero!" Melissa laughs as she helps her Uncle Toshi unload the boxes onto the counter.

"Yeah dad, seriously what's up with the extra boxes?" Izuku quirks an eyebrow at him. He knows his dad could easily eat almost all of these by himself but he usually only ever bought three boxes at most, not ten.

"Nemuri has a thing for me" Toshinori replies as if it's no big deal.

"You're gonna run Midnight's Pizzeria out of business one of these days, Uncle Toshi!" Melissa playfully teases as the burly man blushes.

"Ew" Izuku deadpans as he moves his bucket and goes to place the plastic bag with a gallon of melting ice cream into the freezer.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

Later that evening, things have settled down in the Yagi-Midoriya/Shield household.

David had made a rare appearance apologizing for skipping their family dinner but sounding stressed out that he couldn't find some of his framed certificates that he was sure he had stacked and placed on his office desk. Melissa lied, putting on her best act to show her concerns and reassuring her dad that he'd eventually find them but in truth, she's the one who hid them somewhere up in the attic.

Toshinori made his way downstairs towards the café to make sure everything was locked since he felt the big storming coming just as his son did.

Ever since the news of the move to Australia, Melissa didn't like sleeping in her own room and would have sleepovers with Izuku in his.

"Ready for bed or are we binge watching movies?" Melissa lightly knocks on his door as she makes her way into the cozy nautical themed room.

"Movies, kinda wanna drown out the noise of the storm" he honestly tells her, having grown uncomfortable by the rattling winds and the downpour of angry rain. He was sitting in his windowsill's little sofa mat, currently looking out his window at the bleary little dot outside in the waves. He was pretty sure that was Katsuki.

"Is he still out there?" she questions when she sees his focus was narrowed, trying to keep his gaze locked onto their crazy neighbor.

"I can't tell if he's fearless or just a dumbass" Izuku bemuses, still in disbelief that the blond would be crazy enough to surf in high tides.

"Isn't Eijirou and Mina still out there with him?" she asks while lightly slapping the ball of his shoulder to get him to scoot over so they can both sit and watch.

"They ditched him about twenty minutes ago" he tells her from his observations, "I wonder what's so special that he'd risk his life" he frowns. It never did sit well with him that Katsuki was this reckless no matter how much of a rocky friendship they may have.

"He likes surfing surrounded by the bioluminescent organisms" she answers as he turns to give her a look. "What, just because you two don't see eye-to-eye doesn't mean he ignores me" she shrugs as she goes back to window-watching.

"Gee, thanks" Izuku grumbles, "let's watch a movie now"

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

Eighteen-year-old Katsuki is a daredevil at heart.

Two of his best friends had chickened out on him once their phones kept sounding off with alarms, alerting them that this incoming storm was going to get dangerous but there was just something magical about catching the big waves during the full moon's larger ocean tides.

That, and seeing the little organisms react to the drastic movement caused the oceans to glimmer and glow in a beautiful turquoise shade.

He hates admitting when his friends were right for once. The dropping temperature of the water was starting to chill his bones, also doesn't help that he wasn't wearing better gear. The tides were starting to become unstable but he wanted to at least catch one big wave to glide across.

Instead he caught a hollow wave and then tried again as he wiped his face from the salty water. Trying once last one, he figured he'd settle on a beach break – getting ready for the wave to lead him back to the shores but something happened.

"Ah, shit!" he manages to shout before failing to catch the sudden jerk of the water causing him to wipeout. He furiously twirls around in the glowing waters with his eyes wide opened but unable to see anything past splotches of flickering lights and darkness once he regained his balance.

Katsuki knew for sure he broke his surfboard's leash with the sudden rush. Luckily, he hadn't tumbled into any sharp rocks or got caught in sea grass.

As he swam up towards the surface to his board while holding his breath, he felt something slither across his side causing him to momentarily freeze up. He knew it was super rare for a shark to find its way lost in a storm or even close to their shores but anything could go.

In that moment, all he's focused on is getting the hell out of the water as he resurfaced while coughing up a storm and spat out the excess salty water from his mouth. He got back on his slippery surfboard and hurriedly returned before he'd find himself in serious trouble with mother nature.

Little did he know that a pink creature had accidentally bumped into him and caused him to wipeout.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

The pink creature, the 'shark' doesn't know how, but found herself being taken into the mainland – along with seaweed, small fishes, and crustaceans by the strong pull of the ocean's tides.

She landed straight into the swimming pool of a small little café owned by the fathers of two cousins.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

Done! To be continued.

Oh? A pink creature? A shark, perhaps? Hm, I do wonder what it is!

Ahh, I'm so stoked to really get into creating this world!

Note: I personally don't ship Dekulissa because I see their dynamic working more as being family-like. (To each their own, I say. Ship whatever makes your heart happy!) So yeah, this is my first time really fleshing out their relationship and so far, it's been interesting and a lot of fun! And I also lowkey might have a soft spot for DaveMight but! This isn't that kind of story. I promise no angst – especially with what I wrote about what happened to Inko and Mama Shield. Just… bear with me here.

I absolutely have no personal experience nor knowledge on surf waves or really that much about surfers in general so I hope it came off as sounding natural!

I don't own Izuku Midoriya, Melissa Shield, Katsuki Bakugou, Ochako Uraraka and all other characters mentioned or those that will be used in this fic – Boku No Hero Academia is owned by Kohei Horikoshi.

I just own the idea/plot/story/whatever you want to call it~ lol :P

Please do review! Follows and Alerts tell me that you guys are at least interested in the story but reviews really let me hear out what your feedback and personal opinions on my stories are!

If anyone is afraid to leave reviews due to language difference - please don't be! I can fluently read Spanish and partial French! :) And hey, that's why Google translate was invented after all! LOL.


	2. The Ocean's Treasure

AN: I'm fired up about this idea. LET'S GOOOOO!

Today's song: Into Yesterday by Sugar Ray.

Happy reading~ :D

The Ocean's Treasure

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

Deep in the ocean's floor, in a realm no human could enter - a young mermaid argues with her father, the King, over how she wants to live her own life.

"I'm sorry but I don't love him!"

"This is about your duty to the crown! Not to your heart!"

"A life without love is not a life worth living!"

"My dear child, please understand…"

"No!" her breath shuddered as she cried while swimming away.

No matter how much she explains herself, her father would never understand.

Princess Ochako longs for, yearns for, wishes to discover love.

She's only ever seen it once when her family had just returned from their travels from the Atlantic ocean back home to the Pacific. Ever eager to go people-watching after not being able to while away from her familiar waters, she secretly snuck out of the palace and found herself following a pod of dolphins who were squeaking about joining in on the fun to go play with their favorite person near a small town's beach.

It was there that the young mermaid hid behind a large red buoy and peeked her head above the water to watch what the pod was doing.

A young couple - a blonde female and a taller brunet male gazed over the glistening setting sunset as they watched their only son swim and play with the dolphins.

It was in the way that the boy cared for the mammals that something just clicked. Her youthful, mesmerized brown eyes switched between watching the couple curled into each other standing on the pier and the way their eyes filled with love for the small boy that she wondered why they did what they were doing. Unafraid that their son would be harmed, of course the dolphins would never.

It was just curious to her.

The boy wore a scowl when his parents took out a small rectangular device out of their pockets and flashed a small white light with a 'clicking' sound in his direction but the dolphins reacted differently and encouraged the boy's mood to shift as she heard him laugh for a second later.

It was then and there that she found humans, especially this young boy fascinating.

She vowed that she'd find whatever that expression was for herself someday. Being one-hundred percent sure it was the old pirate's tales of what 'love' is. And she wanted it with that boy. Whom, over the years, she secretly watched grow into a young man who remained passionate about sea life and the ocean to her delight.

"I can't stay here" she tells herself as her tears, appearing as tiny air bubbles in the water drift away with her speed. She swims to her room and fetches her pearl necklace, the one thing to remind her of home before she runs away.

It's just her luck that in her saddened state, she failed to feel the tides beneath her skin. On her way to wherever her fins would take her, she wasn't expecting to make her way towards the shores of the small little town in coastal Japan. At least not yet.

She wasn't brave enough to go onto land, knowing she could from what her best friend shared the one and only time the purple-tailed mermaid returned home. Her friend was happy living amongst the humans and still felt the life of the ocean's currents in her veins. She had comforted Ochako with her tales and gently encouraged her to try it herself one day in order to be with the one she loves on land. But the young man doesn't even know about her existence and she feared that he'd have a bad reaction to her being a 'fish' despite how close of a relationship to the ocean he shared.

With the full moon out, the tides grew higher and stronger as she fumbled in the waves herself and ended up accidentally bumping into someone in the water. In that moment of confusion, she didn't even think to wonder who would be crazy enough to surf in this weather no matter how beautiful the water glowed surrounded in tiny bioluminescent organisms.

The waves roughly crashed against each other and in their force, she ended up being swept and dumped into a swimming pool. Not knowing she was trapped in there along with what else was brought in from the ocean as her eyes grew heavy and she blacked out.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

The thundering storm raged on outside, growing angrier by the minute as Izuku and Melissa slowly began tuning it out as they both drifted off to sleep. Not even the soft murmuring of the tv could keep them awake.

That is until Izuku jolted from the clutches of sleep and jostled the blonde at his side by having the pillows on his side collapse and cave in on the girl. They had created a makeshift pillow fort on the wooden floor. Blankets and pillows surrounded the floor in whichever way they could be held up.

"Heeeeeyyyyy… Izu-chan" Melissa groans as she lazily pushes the pillows toppling her to the side, "what gives?" she asks as she blinks her sleepy blue eyes to see her cousin frantically rummaging through his closet.

"My mom's sailboat! I forgot to put it in the garage!" he hurriedly tells her as he hops around putting on his rain boots on, not bothering to get a coat.

Melissa took one look out the abysmally black window only being able to hear the downpour and not liking their odds of going out there.

"I'm sure it'll be fine, Uncle Toshi always anchors it down during the storms" she reminds him, hoping it'd change his mind about going outside.

"I need to do this, Mel" he shakes his head, "otherwise, I won't be able to sleep"

She knows she can't stop him. As afraid of the water as he is, he's more afraid of losing his mother's belongings more.

"I'll go with you" she volunteers as she gets up and goes to her own room to find her pair of rain boots.

Both teens try to be as discreet as possible, taking each creaky floorboard one at a time as they descend down the stairs. They both know that Toshinori was out as a light with the way the house rumbled with his orchestra of snores but David was another problem. Rain or shine, he was unfazed by these tropical storms and was usually found still awake and working into the late hours of the night.

As they finally reached the final step, both grew relieved after having a brief chill run down their spines at the silhouette of a slumped over male in the dining room. It was just David who fell asleep at the table while working at his laptop.

They entered the extended kitchen, going into the café side of the home and out the entrance there. Once they successfully managed to get out, Izuku let out his breath that he had been holding.

"Oh, you so owe me for this!" Melissa yells as the wind howls around them.

Izuku silently gives her a thumbs up as he takes her free hand, the one not trying to protect her face from the gushing winds and pin-prickling rain drops. They go together, fighting wind, rain, and their balances on the muddy sand out towards the beach's low-level docks where several boats were parked, rocking crazily in the waves as occasional big waves swept over them.

The green-haired male shook, both from his fear and the cold weather. Melissa squeezed his hand tightly to assure him that she wasn't going to let go as they braved the weather until they were abruptly stopped by large chunks of driftwood hurdling their way.

"Izu, we can't!" Melissa pulls him back after dodging a beach umbrella.

"But –" he wanted to say that they were so close, he could clearly see the boats but couldn't see well enough to count how many there were.

Reluctantly, he nodded as they returned to their home. He'd just have to check in the morning once the storm passed. As they entered the front of the café, making their way past the fallen over café menu sign and tilted over beach chairs by the pool, Izuku failed to see the pile of slippery seaweed in the way and tripped backwards straight into the swimming pool with Melissa in tow as they made a decent size splash.

Melissa quickly resurfaced as she called out for her cousin who seemed to be still under. She took in a large breath of fresh air and dived back under to find him in the tangle of bulbous kelp heads, leafy seaweed, and various small fishes. She spread her arms wide opened swimming in a butterfly stroke in order to push things away as she tried to keep calm and not panic.

She needed to get Izuku out.

Izuku floated underwater, eyes closed and slowly losing oxygen as tiny air bubbles traveled up above him. Surrounded by what felt like the ocean's floor as it was pitch dark around him. He fluttered his eyes opened once he regained consciousness and tried not to flail around as he couldn't tell how deep the pool had filled itself with ocean water and marine life.

It's in those precious few seconds that he's alone shrouded in darkness that he feels as if he's not alone when something in what seems like a muted pink color slithers by the tall stalks of seaweed as if circling around him.

He wants to scream but can't knowing he needs to find the courage to swim back up.

When he finds that courage as he hears his heart rapidly beating against his throat as his body begs him for air, he's about to move his limbs to propel himself upwards when a hand comes out of nowhere and tightly grips around his wrist.

Izuku screams when he feels something cold and slimy, rough yet smooth hold him. It's definitely not human.

Before he knows it, he's back up above the water's surface as he clings onto the edge of the pool while coughing out the excess salty water from his lungs. He doesn't waste time to lift his upper body right out of the pool on shaking arms that feel like jellyfishes.

"Oh, you're alright!" he hears Melissa call out as she desperately pants, trying to regain her breath as she swims towards him, "Don't scare me like that!" she halfheartedly lectures, taking his offered hand to help her get out of the pool.

"Mel, did you save me?" Izuku cautiously asks as he watches his cousin quirk an eyebrow and frowns. "I thought you were the one to find me first? I felt you tap my shoulder to resurface" she tells him right as they both give each other a look. One that tells them that something was off.

"Mel, that wasn't me" he confirms with quivering lips, right as they continue their stare down.

As they stared at each other with wide eyes, they whip their heads at the first sound they hear, ignoring the rumbling storm around them to focus on the swimming pool itself. The swimming pool was long and has a standard size of depth. One part of the pool was partially blocked by the damaged solar cover and the rest of the pool was shrouded in filth and marine life.

Izuku and Melissa had fallen in the middle and it wasn't until they were both seated at the edge that they noticed the tiny flickering lights of a few organisms that got swept into the pool as a flip of a fin - a shade of pink creates a small wave before the creature submerges itself into the mysterious dark waters again.

"What was that?!" Izuku tries to keep his voice in check, not wanting to sound paranoid put he couldn't help feel jumpy. Melissa gulps at his side and doesn't answer as she adjusts her body to lay down on her stomach feeling the wet pool tiles cause her skin to crawl.

He wanted to ask her what she thinks she's doing but lost his voice as soon as she scooted her face closer to the water for a better look. Izuku could only shakily grip onto the back of her drenched pajama camisole to keep her in place while she investigates.

They wait with anxious energy, waiting for what they hope isn't a shark to make noise again.

In a flash, two hands reach out of the dark pool as they grab hold of the sides of Melissa's face bringing her closer to the water as a pair of cold lips press against hers.

Melissa had no time to scream and pull away as her blue eyes stared back into very human-like brown eyes before the female let go and went back underneath the water.

Izuku, paralyzed at his cousin's side saw everything. A female with short brown hair had pulled herself from the water, wearing what appeared to be giant pink scallop shells for a bra but her torso. Her torso and below is what had paralyzed and instilled fear into him as her navel region was littered in tiny glittering pink scales as they grew bigger and formed a tail. In his shock, he couldn't process any of this nor any other details on this creature.

"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?!" he screams bloody murder as he scrapes his inner palms to backpedal himself away from the pool's edge feeling as if his soul was about to seep out of his body. "We need to leave! We need to go back inside!" Izuku starts to panickily reason with himself as he sees the blonde, still frozen in place by the pool not making any signs of moving as he.

"MEL!" yells, snapping her out of her own shock as he grabs the bend of her elbow to lift her up.

Melissa doesn't know what just happened to her, unable to process that a fish creature had kissed her. Only that it looked human-like and the kiss still lingered on her lips with how cold they were.

She knew Izuku was talking to her, trying to get her to leave the pool but she had so many questions. As a future marine biologist, part of her wanted her to dive back into the pool but couldn't. She wouldn't freak out her cousin more than he already is as his muffled voice of reason becomes clearer in her head as she quickly follows him back into their home.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

In the morning, Izuku and Melissa were awoken by the sounds of men talking and working outside along with the beeps and suctioning noises of a machine.

Their night felt like a blur, a fever dream that they were sure wasn't real. But both their skins still felt clammy and hair damp. Izuku's room was littered with used bathroom towels and their rain boots still had droplets on them. The pillow fort they had created was abandoned for an actual bed.

"Easy now, Katsuki, don't want the machine getting clogged now" they hear Toshinori's booming voice advice as they hear another, a younger gruff voice reply that he wasn't stupid, knowing exactly what he was doing.

They continue to hear a machine suction for what felt like thirty minutes before it gets clogged.

"Shitty fuckin' machine got clogged!" the gruff male yells, "And it wasn't my fault!" he defends himself a second later as they hear Toshinori tell him that he knows with a light laugh. There's just simply too much ocean debris that it was bound to happen.

"Mmm… must Kacchan be so damn loud in the morning?" Izuku groans as he rises like a mummy out of his bed, his unruly green hair mushed on the left side from where his head was on the pillow with the right side pointing in all directions.

"Wonder what…" Melissa, who's still laying at his side on the bed yawns, "they're doing?" she questions as she momentarily snuggles against her own pillow before remembering everything that occurred during the stormy night. "The girl!" she gasps as she rolls out of the bed in a loud thud.

Izuku had almost forgotten, practically hoping that it was just some wild dream he had after they binge watched classic sea monster movies such as, _'The creature from the Oki mariner, Selkie'_ and, _'I know what Sirius did last summer.'_

"Uhh… I'm pretty sure if a girl washed up from a wreckage and by whatever miracle ended up in our pool that my dad and Uncle Dave would've said something by now, even get the harbormaster down here" Izuku tries to make sense of things as he's convinced that whatever they had encountered in the pool wasn't fully human.

"You're right but we won't find out anything by staying in your room!" she says as she gets up from the floor and runs out of his room to return to her own to change into dry gym shorts and a hoodie while fetching a long beach towel.

"Why the towel?" he asks when she returns to wait for him to get out of bed.

"The girl might need this" she turns around from his door's entrance and starts making her way downstairs knowing that he wouldn't keep her waiting for long.

She hears him a few seconds later coming down the creaky steps and catches up to her pace. He changed into a fresh t-shirt and shorts, carrying an extra towel in case they need it.

"Morning you two!" Toshinori greets them as he inspects a long tube, digging out trash out of it to unclog the machine.

Katsuki huffs rolling his eyes, saying nothing to the duo as he shovels out seaweed and trash from inside the shallow pool water.

"Hey… uhh… dad, did you happen to see anyone else here?" Izuku vaguely asks as he looks around the pretty beaten up café court for any signs of a half girl-half fish creature.

"Nope! Just been here with Katsuki and Dave who's out getting coffee for us" he tells his son, curious about what he meant, "why, were you hoping to catch a mermaid?" he jokes as it makes both teens freeze up.

"EHHH?! A ME-MER-MERMAID!" Izuku hysterically swipes his arms in an x-formation in front of him as he starts laughing like a mad man.

"Chill the fuck out, dweeb!" Katsuki calls out from the pool's floor as he pauses his shoveling, "He's joking, everyone knows mermaids don't exist"

"You're just saying that because you've never been kissed by one!" Melissa winks at the blond as he quirks an eyebrow giving her a look.

"You're both fuckin' weird!" he comments with a shake of his head as he got back to work.

"C'mon, Izu-chan!" she weaves her fingers with izuku's hand, "We'll help out and check out the shack, Uncle Toshi!" she tells the burly man as he laughs and thanks them.

She leads Izuku towards the closed shack, the one they use for selling and renting out swimming equipment for the pool, outdoor beach activities, along with souvenirs and small snacks. It was honestly the only place she could think of looking for the mysterious girl, a bit worried for her health. Melissa was no fool, after digesting her shock, she knew they definitely found a mermaid and was kissed by one.

They weren't supposed to exist but then again neither were monster-sized cephalopods and their deep-sea gigantism.

Moving a turned over chair in the way, Melissa tip-toed to reach for a rusty top hook near the door to get the key hidden behind a gold bell hanging on jute rope. Slowly, she opened the door to let out any water from the storm that might've seeped in.

"Hello! Is anyone in here?" she calls out as she carefully maneuvers through the fallen over racks of goods as she lifts up and straightens up what she can to further get into the small shack.

"We're not going to hurt you! We just want to talk!" she calls out again as she feels Izuku, who's right behind her tug her back.

"Mel!" Izuku sharply whispers, pinching the fabric of her hoodie again to stop her when she wasn't listening as she turns around to silently ask him what's gotten into him.

Izuku takes out his phone from his pocket and turns on the flashlight app so they can better see. He flashes his light onto a spot that he saw slight movement coming from when Melissa had moved the racks of postcards, souvenir magnets, and bottle openers out of the way.

It's then that they both pause as they see a young woman, maybe younger or about Izuku's age curled up into herself as she covered her face. Her neck shimmered from her pearl necklace but she was looking away from them. Huddled up by the corner of the small shack's wall.

She was shivering and shaking like a leaf. On her right shoulder blade, she has a medium sized tattoo of camellia roses made out of tiny pink scales. Her short brown hair and bangs damp and crumpled, wearing a pink scallop shell bra, and completely nude from the waist down with very much human anatomy.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

Done! To be continued.

Uhuhu, the real fun begins next chap! I hope y'all enjoy my version of mermaid!Ochako.

Until next time!

You know the drill! Please R&R – it's greatly appreciated and I always get a kick out of reading your reviews/feedback. And again, please don't be afraid to – I can fluently read Spanish and partial French! Thankies~ :D


	3. Shy As A Clam

AN: These Dekulissa family feels got me all ASDFGHJKL; I'm just really having fun with this story!

Today's song: I'll Be Here Awhile by 311.

Happy reading~ :D

Shy As A Clam

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

"Uhh… I'll… w-w-wait outside!" Izuku hurriedly squeaks out as he dashes right out of the small shack.

Melissa shakes her head knowing how easily flustered her cousin gets, especially around girls. She hears the wooden door close right behind her as she goes back to taking care of the naked girl in front of her. The mysterious young girl had scattered beach towels around her to dry out the wet floor surrounding her small dry huddled spot.

"Please, let me help you!" Melissa gently calls out to the shivering girl in front of her, slowly trying to get closer to her with her towel spread wide opened. "You must be freezing!" she softly adds as the girl, without revealing her face, nods and does nothing to be taken as hostile.

She lets Melissa handle her by allowing her to wrap the towel around her and then patiently gets help to stand up on her wobbly sea legs. "Oof, I got ya!" Melissa giggles as she tucks the towel into itself on the front of the girl's chest. "There! Now why don't we get you inside and clean you up?" the blonde kindly offers as the shy girl simply nods and extends her hand out. Melissa notices that her fingernails were shimmering a faint blue color.

Izuku felt his spine tingle when he heard the shack's door opening and coming out was his cousin and the new girl. The brunette, by all means, an ethereal beauty. Big brown soulful eyes with small speckles of gold that reminds him of the warm sand on the ocean's floor. Small gentle pink lips and round chubby cheeks with what appears to be a permanent rosy blush. She was wearing a pearl necklace with the biggest oyster pearls he's ever seen and if he squinted hard enough, he could've sworn they held the tiniest of pink dust naturally coloring them.

"Let's, um, enter from the front!" Izuku suggests as they couldn't sneak past his dad and Katsuki currently cleaning up the pool and court.

"Good idea, let's!" Melissa smiles, biting her inner cheek as to not get too excited just yet. She wraps an arm around the shy girl's bare shoulder and leads her away. As she and Izuku were about to guide the young mermaid towards the front of their house and away from prying eyes, they instantly stop when they hear Katsuki's loud booming voice.

"OW! Stupid fucking dead fish!" the teen howls in pain as the sharp bones of a mangled bony fish cut his inner palm.

"You alright, my boy?" they hear Toshinori ask in the distance.

"Yeah, just need to wash the wound!" Katsuki replies as he winces while inspecting the cut for any loose spines that might have gotten stuck in his skin.

"I'll go get the first aid kit!" Toshinori says as he enters the house from the café's kitchen door.

At the sight of Katsuki's bloodied hand dripping onto the dirtied pool water, the mysterious girl lets out a small strangled noise of distress as she sheds a glistening tear and rushes towards the blond.

"No!"

"Hey, wait!"

Both Izuku and Melissa call out for her as she sprints across the shack towards the deep end of the pool where the blond was standing mere inches away from what was left to clean out. She nearly trips right onto the tall orange tank top wearing male when she descends the small steps to reach him.

Katsuki quirks a curious brow at the new girl not knowing where she even came from. He's not given much time to question things when she suddenly grabs his injured hand. She swipes an index finger across her cheek to collect the tear and then flicks it onto his hand before kissing his wound. Her fingernails shift to a bright pink and then quickly to a lilac purple as she flees the scene.

"Oi!" she hears him call out but keeps strong by not turning to look at him. Instead she lets the blonde and green-haired humans lead her away.

"I'm back!" Toshinori says a moment later as he stands at the edge of the pool, "Catch!" he tells Katsuki as he throws the small red plastic box down to him.

Katsuki gripped the box and opens it with his good hand, struggling but refusing Toshinori's help to clean the wound. Stating that it wasn't a big deal as his mind wanders briefly to the strange girl that kissed his injured hand. Once he managed to clean the wound, he was even more confused when there was no cut nor pain on his inner palm. Just blood that he had cleaned off.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

Once inside the safety of the house, Izuku and Melissa brought the mer-girl into Melissa's room where she was currently seated on the edge of the bed.

"What were you thinking, running off to Kacchan!" Izuku bursts, unable to keep silent about the brunette's bold reaction to the blond's minor injury. He just couldn't understand why she acted as if the surfer was dying or something!

The silent girl simply blinks her big brown eyes and tilts her head unable to understand his tone. She can understand him but not what his words meant.

Melissa shoves Izuku away as she stands in front of the towel wearing girl. "Izu, not now!" Melissa lectures as she places all her attention on the girl. "What's your name? Surely you have a name, right?" she gently asks as she places a hand over her chest, "I'm Melissa but you can call me Mel!"

The brunette blinks again as Melissa repeats her name and points to herself.

"MMM…"

"Yeah! You almost got it!"

"MMMeee…"

"Good! Keep going!"

"MMMeeel"

"Eh, close enough!" Melissa giggles as she then points at her cousin. "This is Izuku but you can call him Izu if that's easier!"

The girl nods understanding that it would be easier but wanted to challenge herself.

"IIIzzzuuu…"

"Yes! Almost there!"

"IIIzzzuuuku"

Izuku couldn't help but smile at that as he meekly waves in greeting to her.

"Now, it's your turn" Melissa extends her hand out, palm up as to point towards the girl sitting on her bed.

She shyly begins saying her name and title in a high-pitched screech causing her to pause at the sight of Melissa and Izuku covering their ears with scrunched up noses and closed eyes. Luckily there was no glass nearby otherwise it would have shattered. She realizes then that they must be sensitive to the high octave range of her voice as she clears her dry throat and tries again but this time she doesn't bother with a title. It was probably for the best that she doesn't reveal that she's a princess or the fact that she ran away from home.

"OOO… cha… ko" she points to herself as her fingernails shift from purple to blue again.

"Ochako?" Melissa confirms as the young mermaid enthusiastically nods. "What a pretty name!" the blonde kindly compliments, happy to know that they were making some progress already.

"You should help her get cleaned up before she catches a cold, Mel" Izuku suggests as he makes his way out of the room, "I'll go keep an eye on my dad and Kacchan" he says before leaving the room.

Melissa chuckles to herself thinking how funny of a thought it was for a mermaid to catch a cold. The girl in front of her probably lives in much colder temperatures than what she or Izuku could even handle.

As she's about to walk over to her closet to see what the girl could wear, she hears her speak up.

"Kaaa… chaaan?" Ochako curiously asks as she watches Melissa walk in circles around the room. Collecting and placing a small bottle filled with liquid and a few colorful tubes with a jelly-like glittery substance inside, onto the bed right next to her.

"That's Izu-chan's nickname for Katsuki" Melissa answers, finally at her closet as she pulls out a couple of summer dresses out. "You know, the tall blond guy that hurt his hand that you ran off towards? He and Izuku have a rocky relationship but," she peeks her head out of the closet and shrugs, "they're both guys" she giggles while shaking her head, "they have their moments but they don't totally hate each other – if they did, then Katsuki wouldn't let Izuku call him by a nickname and I'd probably have to get in the way before Izuku does something stupid"

"Katsuki!" Ochako fluently says surprising Melissa as she gets up from the bed and runs towards the window. From Melissa's room, they could see a bit of the pool and court but it had a better view from Izuku's room. The brunette fumbles with the latch on the window to open it as she lets in the cool salty sea breeze into the bright room.

"The fuck do you want, nerd?" Katsuki's heard barking as Izuku speaks up, "Just wanted to lend a hand" the green-haired male replies as he lets out an 'oof' when the blond shoves a box of garbage bags in his hands. "Then be fuckin' useful for once and help clean this shit up!" the taller teen orders as Izuku tells him to stop being so bossy.

"Katsuki!" Ochako bounces on her heels at the sound of the blond's gruff voice. Her nails wildly shimmering in a swirl of pink and red as her rosy cheeks deepen in color.

Melissa dumps the dresses on her bed and quirks a curious brow at the young girl. "Boy, you sure do like Katsuki, don't you?"

Ochako wishes she could better explain herself. To tell Melissa about how she's grown up watching Katsuki through the years from a distance. How the young man outside makes her heart flutter. But she can't, not with her limited language skills. She may have kissed the blonde girl in front of her in order to understand human speech but she still couldn't quite communicate with her and Izuku.

"Why don't we get you cleaned up first and then we can go back down to the court?" Melissa suggests as she curiously watches Ochako, who's fully concentrated on wanting to hear Katsuki speak again, as the girl looks at the window with a longing expression.

Ochako's ears perk up at Melissa's words about getting the chance to go back down again. She shifts her attention to the blonde female with sparkling caramel eyes and furiously nods as she follows her out the room, across the hallway, and into the bathroom.

There as Melissa sets up the lukewarm water in the tub, she decides it'd be nice to give Ochako a rose scented bath bomb. Ochako hesitates for a second as she looks at the murky pink waters but Melissa assures her that it's not ocean water.

Slowly, Ochako takes off the towel and her shell bra, only keeping her pearl necklace on. Once fully submerged into the scented waters, she relaxes a bit as Melissa carefully scrubs at her skin. At first, Melissa had gotten scared when her sponge collected the tiny pink scales around the mer-girl's right shoulder blade, the ones that formed camellia roses but as the scales came off, it revealed a pink tattoo of the same roses in its place.

"Huh, fascinating" Melissa whispers to herself, taking note on how Ochako's tail hadn't appeared. She hypothesizes that salt water must activate it but she can't be sure until she tries her experiment out.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

"Aww, now don't you look lovey!" Melissa mentally gives herself credit for her handiwork.

Ochako twirls around, wearing a blush pink spaghetti-strap sundress and low-heeled white sandal wedges. She wanted to thank Melissa for the outfit and for being so kind to her, honestly not knowing what to expect from the humans who found her.

She lets out a tiny squeal in joy as she tightly hugs Melissa as her eyes lock onto the opened window again.

"Katsuki!" she cheerily calls out again feeling her heartrate begin to pick up at just the thought of getting to see the loud male again.

"Whoa, whoa, not so fast there!" Melissa gently grabs her by the wrist and tugs her to sit down on the bed again, "first you need a little bit of perfume and some lip gloss for those chapped lips!"

Once they were done, they finally made their way downstairs. Outside, Toshinori was cleaning up fallen and damaged palm leaves as he looks up to see his niece and a new girl coming out of the house.

"Oh! New friend of yours, Mel?" the burly man asks with a kind smile on his lips.

Melissa dramatically gasps and answers, "Uncle Toshi! Don't you remember that you signed up for the host family program?!"

Toshinori gives her a confused look, "I did?"

"Oh yes, yes!" Melissa energetically nods, "Izu thought it'd be a lovey idea for us to open up our home to an exchange student! You loved the idea so much that we signed you up for it before our summer break would start, months ago!"

The blond older male scratches his temple for a second, not recalling ever doing this but it wasn't like his niece to ever lie to him. With one boisterous laugh, he drops the bundle of tied palm leaves he was holding onto the stone paved floor.

His laugh was so strong that Ochako was sure he must have inherited the power of the winds from the Caspian sea.

"Excuse my strange behavior, my dear!" Toshinori quickly apologizes to the young girl who's apparently going to be spending the summer with them. "I'm Toshinori but you can call me Toshi!"

Ochako tilts her head, staring at the chiseled man with owlish eyes. Wondering if all humans didn't like their gives names and always shortened them.

"TTToooshi" she commits his name to memory.

"This is Ochako! She's from northern Japan!" Melissa lies, figuring two things in that moment. One. Ochako was used to cold weathers and two. she's most likely from Japan's pacific waters. "Are Izu-chan and Katsuki finished helping out?" she asks when she doesn't hear the commotion anymore.

Toshinori smirks, "I sent those two to get ice cream together"

"Oooh, boy" Melissa whistles, knowing that her uncle was treading on dangerous waters there. "Guess I'll go fetch them. Hopefully they haven't ended up in a blood bath" she deadpans as she weaves her fingers with Ochako's and leads the silent girl with her towards the shops at the pier.

"They're not that bad!" Toshinori comments with a booming laugh, having seen the ups and downs of his own son's and the boy next door's rocky relationship.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

Ochako's eyes widened in a mix of awe and glee at the sights around her. Having never seen anything like what she's currently experiencing even from her safe distances out at sea.

They were on the boardwalk, surrounded by humans of all shapes, sizes, colors, and ages. Some little kids running around in swimsuits with what appears to be plastic fins and translucent tinted goggles while others were fully clothed with strange colorful foods that looked like fluffy clouds held in their hands and round floating balls tied to strings.

The sights, the noises, the smells. They were all so overwhelming as Ochako twirled around, the light crisp sea breeze flowing through the cotton fabric of her sundress and freshly washed hair.

"LLLove… ly" Ochako strains to say, repeating the word she's heard Melissa use before.

"I promise I'll give you the full tour of the boardwalk later! I just need to make sure Izu and Katsuki haven't killed each other yet" Melissa tells her as she weaves them through the crowds, heading towards the area filled with the most people – where the thrill rides and carny style games were located.

"PPProm… ise?" Ochako curiously asks, wondering what that word meant. She understood everything else, remembering what Melissa said about Izuku and Katsuki's rocky friendship.

"It means that I give you my sworn oath and that I won't ever lie to you" the blonde explains as they arrive at the food court area.

Ochako simply hums, now understanding and smiling. She begins to wonder if all humans were exactly like Melissa or if she just so happened to get incredibly lucky. All her life, her father had scared her about the shore, drilling into her head that land people weren't to be trusted. Ever.

"Oh! There they are!" Melissa gasps, relieved to see that both boys were holding onto things in their hands. Katsuki was carrying two fast melting ice cream cones and Izuku was juggling three as his hands dripped with colorful milky syrup.

"Oh, hey Mel! A little help here?" Izuku calls out once he sees his cousin in sight.

"Nothing is sacred in this sweltering heat!" Melissa giggles and thanks him for the ice cream, knowing he had gotten one for her and Ochako.

"Katsuki!" Ochako brightly gasps at the sight of the male. He was licking away at a pink ice cream while his other hand dripped with a cone meant for Toshinori.

"Oi, you're that weird chick that kissed my bloody fuckin' hand!" Katsuki begins to yell as again, the brunette doesn't give him the proper time to process things as she makes him drop both his ice creams straight onto the wooden floorboards in order to catch her when she pounces on him.

Ochako was just so overjoyed to finally be able to see him, touch him, and simply be near him. She attacked his lips with a rough kiss, bringing him down to her height, as she tightly closed her eyes and reveled in the feeling. Her nails glittered a bright red, the same color as her blushing cheeks.

There was no secret that Katsuki has a following. Most girls at his high school, no matter what grade level all had a thing for him. He was fairly popular in school, academically gifted, a surfer all-year round, and during summer vacation he works as a lifeguard for Toshinori and David's café while occasionally helping out in other areas he's needed at the café such as that morning with the big storm hitting the small coastal town hard.

He had the right mind to be pissed because he wasn't easy. More focused on his aspirations rather than to have a dating life. He was normally rough when letting down girls but he wasn't a complete asshole about it either. But this girl. This weird chick just suddenly crashed into his life like a cresting wave and then like a breaking wave, she disperses and runs away.

Katsuki knows he shouldn't give in, not as his willpower betrays him and his hands tightly grip the flowy material of her dress around her waist with sticky fingers. He knows he should pull away but damn can this weird chick kiss.

Ochako pulls away when she takes note that she needs to breathe as a human. She leaves Katsuki with dazed eyes, parted lips, and a heaving chest as she quickly pecks his cheek and latches onto both Izuku and Melissa's hands, hurriedly dragging them away from the confused male.

Katsuki snaps out of it as he sees the mysterious girl already at the entrance to the boardwalk. Leaving him with melting ice cream pooling at his pale feet; compared to the rest of his body that was lightly tanned. "WHAT THE FUCK!" he curses as he feels his lips still tingling.

First, she kissed his bloodied hand which was apparently not injured after all and now she just gave him the kiss of a lifetime all while causing him to drop his cold treats.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

"I can't believe you just did that!" Izuku yells in a surprised tone at the bold young mermaid. They had just gotten back inside and went straight into Melissa's room. Now the green-haired male was frantically pacing back and forth on the carpeted floor.

"You kissed Kacchan!" he squeaks out in shock knowing that he should be dreading this fact and not acting surprised. Especially because he has this uncomfortable feeling churning his insides already, knowing that Katsuki would accuse him first and then ask questions later.

"I think she has a thing for Katsuki" Melissa comments as Izuku gives her an incredulous look. "Ya think?!" he then groans, "Kacchan's not gonna stop, not until he knows why she did that!"

"It's simple, Izuku, we'll lie to him. He won't find out a single thing" Melissa tries to assure him, feeling a mix of guilt and pride for having become a natural liar in the span of two weeks. "We still don't even know much about her either, but we'll have plenty of time to" she tells him as Ochako quietly observes Izuku's tensed body language and Melissa's relaxed one.

"Why's that?" Izuku cautiously asks as he momentarily stops his frenzied pacing.

Melissa takes a moment to brace him for her news as she twiddles her thumbs together and smiles at Ochako sitting next to her on the bed as she answers, "Ochako is a house guest. I told Uncle Toshi that she's an exchange student and that we'll be hosting her for the summer"

It didn't take long for Izuku to explode. "YOU WHAT?!"

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

Done! To be continued.

Uhuhuhu. There is nothing shy about Ochako! ;D

Until next time!

You know the drill! Please R&R – it's greatly appreciated and I always get a kick out of reading your reviews/feedback. And again, please don't be afraid to – I can fluently read Spanish and partial French! Thankies~ :D


End file.
